Lets say you've got a job that's super easy, pays well enough, but isn't interesting anymore, would you stay?
That's where I'm at right now. This is my first real job, so I don't have any much experience with all this. I've been here for 5 years, 2 of which were part-time before graduating. Right now I'm worried that I'm I'm caught in the loop of getting the same 1 year of experience over and over again.
The only thing that's stopping me is that it's dead easy. No one checks up on me. I've probably done about 1 month's worth of work in the past 4 months. There are days where I don't do a single productive thing. For some reason they're paying me a bit over $60K/year for that.
Just in case anyone thinks that's me gloating, it's actually killing me. I've always had a problem with getting myself to be productive in the moment, but an even bigger problem with getting depressed after that about the fact that I'm wasting my life.
I've been applying for jobs hoping to find somewhere I'm more enthusiastic about working towards something and I have a few interviews lined up, but now I'm getting cold feet and wondering why I'd give this cushy situation up.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Which path did you take and how did you feel about that decision after?
If you were like my oldest daughter that would be fine because she works an entry level day job as a QA tester and documentation writer for a small engineering department but her real passion is writing fiction. She writes every evening and on weekends and has complete drafts of 2 full length novels and half a dozen more in the various stages of completion (and she just turned 23 - can you tell I am a proud dad?). But my point is if your passion after work is intellectually challenging then a day job that doesn't really challenge you intellectually is probably fine. Do good enough work that you are perceived within that context as someone who is competent and productive - even if you are bored. And, reserve your intellectual energy for the side project or creative outlet of your choosing.
However, if your day job represents your intended focus and the place you want to achieve then you absolutely must do something about the situation.
You can more actively pursue challenges at work and spend time self-training in skills that will help expand your scope of responsibility at work and prepare you for any changes that might come your way. Alternatively, you can look for a different place to work, which you have already started doing. The one caution I have is be careful or you could easily end up in a situation that is just as bad but on a whole different dimension. You could easily be facing the other scenario where there is way more on the wish list of things to get done than there are persons to get them done. You could join a team and find yourself working 70 hour weeks and barely having time for lunch or breaks.